Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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The Search for Senna: What’s going on?

The Search for Senna by K.A. Applegate

Best known for her bestselling pre-teen series Animorphs, K.A. Applegate takes on a darker subject matter for a significantly older audience in her twelve book series Everworld. Straight away one of the advantages to the story is that there’s an end in sight (unlike the Animorph series which dragged on for fifty-four books), though I cannot help but wonder if perhaps this series would have benefited by simply being a single novel. The chapters are short,

The Scepter of Mercy: Fantasy lite

THE SCEPTER OF MERCY by Dan Chernenko

Okay, this trilogy is fantasy lite. These books have really good covers, and the blurbs on the back read pretty good, but by the time I was halfway through the first one, I was feeling guilty, and it was the kind of guilt you have for skipping Masterpiece Theatre because you want to watch Desperate Housewives (that has not happened to me, but it was the best analogy I could come up with). I would note that the cover of The Scepter’s Return bears a striking similarity to Steven Erikson’s Deadhouse Gates’ cover.

December 28th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 2 | Dan Chernenko | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Candle Man: Plot’s too complex for the simple writing style

Candle Man by Glenn Dakin

Theo has spent all of his life inside and away from people. His guardian Dr. Saint has always told him that he has a deadly disease that prevents him from being involved in modern society. So it’s a treat for Theo when, as a birthday outing, Dr. Saint allows him to take a stroll in the cemetery near the house. Imagine his surprise when he happens to find a gift with his name on it randomly sitting on one of the headstones.

Aside from the strange gift,

Kith: Lacks emotional impact

Kith by Holly Black

Kith is the second installment in The Good Neighbors, Holly Black’s series of graphic novels about Rue, a young woman whose life is torn apart when her mother disappears. Kin, the first book in this series, traces Rue’s discovery that her mother is a fairy princess who returns to her own people when Rue’s father is unfaithful. Kith picks up the action as the fairy world fights for Rue to join her mother,

Steward of Song: Not as good as the first

Steward of Song by Adam Stemple

Steward of Song is the sequel to Singer of Souls, an excellent and original urban fantasy novel by Adam Stemple. I enjoyed the first novel very much, but unfortunately wasn’t as impressed with this sequel. Singer of Souls had a great narrative curve, building up the plot and the tension very carefully, from a slow start to a gradual exposition to an explosive climax. I simply couldn’t put it down. Steward of Songmaintains more or less the same pace all through the story,

September 2nd, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2 | Adam Stemple | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Belle: Fair retelling of Beauty and the Beast

Belle by Cameron Dokey

The Once Upon a Time books are a series of relatively slim volumes that retell traditional fairytales, usually in an updated setting. Water Song: A Retelling of “The Frog Prince”
for example is set during WWII, and with the magical elements removed. Belle is an exception to this rule, as it is set in your typical 19th century time-period and with plenty of emphasis on enchantment and mystery in its second half.

Other reviewers have compared Belle with Robin McKinley‘s Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast.

Beyond the Pale: Stupid heroine ruins the plot

Beyond the Pale by Savannah Russe

Savannah Russe starts with an original premise: What if a vampire became a spy for the U.S. government? Daphne Urban has survived five hundred years and schmoozed with royalty and Romantic poets. These days, though, she’s suffering from ennui. When the government makes her an offer she can’t refuse, she’s resistant at first, but soon realizes her new job is the most excitement she’s had in over a century.

Trouble is, Daphne makes a rather bumbling spy. I realize she’s new to the whole secret agent thing,

June 25th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Savannah Russe | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Year of Our War: Cluttered plot, erratic execution

The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston

I’m always drawn to material that is described as “fresh,” “original” or “inventive.” So when I was introduced to Steph Swainston and her highly praised fantasy series, I was eager to delve into this fascinating new world starting with Ms. Swainston’s debut The Year of Our War. Unluckily for me, it wasn’t quite what I expected.

Set in The Fourlands, The Year of Our War focuses on three races (humans, winged yet flightless Awians,

June 15th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 2 | Steph Swainston | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Skin Trade: There’s actually a plot

Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton

Skin Trade is enough of a step in the right direction that I’m sorely tempted to give it a higher rating than it actually deserves. There’s a plot! With murders! And investigating! And I turned out to be right about Marmee Noir’s plans for Anita. And the two explicit sex scenes are better-written and less icky than what I’ve come to expect from Laurell K. Hamilton. And she’s being copy-edited again, so there are only a few typos.

June 14th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Laurell K. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Forestwife Trilogy: Underdeveloped

THE FORESTWIFE TRILOGY by Theresa Tomlinson

Theresa Tomlinson’s Forestwife is a good kids’ book. For the most part, it kept me interested, but there were many “cheesy” sections that ended way too “neatly” for me. There was also no recognizable “bad guy” which makes a plotline sort of boring and unrecognizable.

The nice thing about The Forestwife was that it was not your typical Robbin Hood/Maid Marian novel. Marian was more of a hero herself in this version, making it an empowering book for young girls,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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